The form of this piece was based in the first cell of Malhão rhythm. This is why there are three different attacks with the Bass Drums and Mahler’s hammer during the pieces:
1) b. 1;
2) b. 27;
3) b. 80.
These attacks divide, in this way, the piece in three sections.
The first section (A), from b. 1 to 26, is divided in 2 parts:
1) b. 1 to 7
2) b. 8 to 26
The main musical idea for A was to reproduce the sound of martelos in the orchestra. The martelos are used, but they are hidden from the orchestra.
In section B, there are 3 main layers:
1) melody of “Dança do Rei David” in strings (pizzicato)
2) martelos and attacks that resemble martelos
3) chords progression in the background.
The initial idea was to use a traditional religious song, transforming and translating it into the orchestra. After my search, I realised that the melody from “Dança do Rei David” would be the appropriate song/melody to introduce in the piece, honouring the tradition of the Festival.
Although the martelos are hidden, during the second part of this section they are hearable. Here, there are four different groups reproducing martelos’ sound:
1) percussionists (1 and 2)
2) strings group 1 (violin I 1, violin II 1, violin II 3, violoncello 1, Contrabass 1)
3) strings group 2 (violin I 2, violin I 3, violin II 2, violoncello 2, violoncello 3, Contrabass 2)
4) small reaction of flutes (1,2) and trumpets (1,2 and 3):
To better understand the elements of Braga's Sint John's festival, read this section.
“S. João de Braga” as inspiration for new pieces
The “S. João de Braga” (Braga’s Festival of St. John) was the influence for two pieces I wrote in the last years: "ensaio para um s. joão", for orchestra, and "braga: à [b]olta do s. joão" for philharmonic band. I used different elements (melodic, rhythmic, sound) from this event in these two pieces.
“ensaio para um s. joão”
Introduction:
“ensaio para um s. joão” was written between July 2016 and February 2017, as part of SoundMine (an International course for composition with Wim Henderickx, Diederik Glorieux and Jorrit Tamminga, organised by Musica, Impulse Centre for Music) in Neerpelt. In this piece of approximately 4 minutes, traditional elements from Braga’s Festival of St. John were used and reinterpreted, as the following presentation intends to expose. This piece was premiered on the 24th May 2017 at the Koningin Elisabethzaal, in Antwerp, by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Wim Henderickx.
“ensaio para um s. joão”, explanation of the piece and its composition process
“ensaio para um s. joão” started during SoundMine in Neerpelt. There, not only the whole idea for the orchestral piece was developed, but also four sketches were created in order to seek a good sonic result:
a) piece for 3 martelos (abovementioned)
b) two sketches for 1 bassoon, 1 horn in F, 1 violin, 1 viola, 1 double bass and 3 martelos;
c) piece for 1 violin, 2 violas, 1 violoncello and 6 martelos
d) piece for 4 violins, 2 violas, 1 violoncello, 3 martelos
The first sketch I wrote with the elements as an influence was a miniature for 4 performers, with 3 hammers. Many of the rhythms used are influenced by traditional Portuguese rhythms. The goal of this miniature was to understand what sonic and artistic results the hammers could offer and test the ease of musicians playing with the hammers on the heads of colleagues next to them and the reaction of the audience watching the performance.
The other sketches, also miniatures, were written to explore the use of the hammers in combination with some western orchestral instruments. The decision of writing these sketches also came as an attempt to understand the reaction of musicians and the audience when confronted with these particular objects (the martelo). The sketches were written for the instrumentations mentioned above due to the given possibilities of musicians during the summer course. Besides that, I also had the opportunity to seek different timbres and combinations. Only the first of these sketches (for three martelos) was played in the final concert of Soundmine, conducted by Wim Henderickx.
“ensaio para um s. joão”, for orchestra:
The idea for this piece originated from two main issues:
a) the challenge of using a traditional element with few possibilities (regarding pitch and timbre) as the martelos in an orchestral piece;
b) an attempt to rupture the idea that Portugal has a sad (music) culture (cliché influenced by the popularity of Fado and saudade feeling. Thus, I wanted to present another tradition to broaden the general opinion about Portuguese traditional culture.
The name of the piece demonstrates these two main concerns. Ensaio in Portuguese means both “essay” and “rehearsal”. “Essay” on the approach of martelos in the orchestra. “Rehearsal” as preparation for St. John’s eve, trying to incorporate in the orchestra the feeling of that night. In this piece, the contrast of the seriousness of a western classical orchestra and the humour of St. John’s eve was also sought.
This is the first of two pieces for orchestra having Braga’s “Festival of St. John” as an influence. Here, the first cell of Malhão’s rhythm was used for the form. The second cell of the rhythm will be used in the future.
instrumentation:
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in Bb, 2 bassons
4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in C,
2 tenor trombones, 1 bass trombone, 1 tuba
timpani (1 set), 2 percussionists
I Violins (12)
4 players (1-4), 4 players (5-8), 4 players (9-12)
II Violins (10)
4 players (1-4) 4 players (5-8) 2 players (9-10)
Violas (8)
2 players (1-2), 4 players (3-6), 2 players (7-8),
Violoncellos (6)
2 players (1-2), 2 players (3-4), 2 players (5-6)
Double Basses (4)
2 players (1-2), 2 players (3-4)
In addition to these instruments, 15 martelos de s. joão are used in the orchestra.
form
.3) The choice of using Bass drums to define the form of this piece, had to with the existing Bass Drum groups in the Festival. Among other things, they often play Malhão’s rhythm.
.4) Zés Pereiras: The choice of using Bassdrums, had to do with the existing Bass Drum groups in the Festival. Among other things, they often play Malhão’s rhythm.
recreation of the crowd's behaviour during St. John's eve
As previously mentioned, the environment created in this piece seeks to re-create the sound world of a St. John’s eve in Braga.
I also tried to recreate the organisation and reorganisation of the groups during the eve, creating an orderly disorder in the rhythmical groups.
At the end of the piece, I decided to use this melody as the final chorale of the piece (the "coda"). The final chorale was written in a way to allow some improvisation. This choice had to do with the fact that, in the traditional vocal (choral) music from Minho, there is usually "total freedom of interpretation"[4].
The second song, “Hino do S. João de Braga”, is essentially played by the philharmonic bands during the festivities of S. João de Braga. In this piece, I used this melody in two ways. The first was harmonizing in part B of the piece.
Rhythmic material
The influence of the rhythm can be seen in 3 different perspectives: .1) the rhythm of Rei David’s song; Malhão (a traditional rhythm) and the attempt to create an atmosphere of St. John’s eve in the orchestra.
.1) Mourisca Rei David (in blue)
.2) Malhão’s rhythm (in red)
.3) the attempt to create an atmosphere of St. John’s eve in the orchestra. (in green)
Melodic and pitch material
a) imitating martelos;
b) Mourisca - in section B, the “Mourisca” is used in three different ways, creating three musical phrases:
Also, during the creative process of “ensaio para um s. joão”, I had several meetings and rehearsals with my colleagues Mafalda Tuna (violin), José Miguel Freitas (viola) and Teresa Madeira (violoncello) where we have done many experiences on the instruments to find the best pitches and techniques to combine the sound of their instruments with the martelos.
One of the first ideas in relation to the material and the form of the piece was to create a slow, sung "coda" (or "postlude", as I wrote at the time) using a popular melody from the S. João de Braga. I chose to use the "Hino do S. João de Braga".
Which influences did I use?
Martelos
Similar to my previous work “ensaio para um s. joão”, in this piece I instructed the instrumentalists to simulate the tradition of hitting each other’s heads with a martelo, as commonly seen during the festival. he sound of the hammers is also imitated in other instruments (flutes, clarinets, for example).
Melodies and folksongs:
In this piece I used two traditional songs from Braga: “Os Sinos da Sé de Braga” (in English: The Bells of Braga’s Cathedral) and “Hino do S. João de Braga” (in English: Hymn of St. John of Braga).
The first song was used as a melody in the tubular bells, representing the bells of the Sé (Braga’s Cathedral) and the “Associação Cultural - Os Sinos da Sé”, as a tribute to Professor Hermínio Machado with whom I had, in recent years, several conversations about Braga and traditional Minho music. The church bell is also a community mark that represents much more than just the fundamentally religious meaning that can be attached to it. Bells serve the community by signaling the passage of time, announcing social events, and serving as an emergency warning system in the event of an accident or disaster[3].
“braga: à (b)olta do s. joão”
This piece was commissioned in 2017 by the organizers of “Concurso de Bandas Filarmónicas de Braga”.
Instrumentation:
Piccolo, Flute (1,2), Oboe (1,2), Bassoon (1 and 2); Mib Clarinet, Sib Clarinet 1, 2 and 3, Sib Bass Clarinet; Alto Saxophone 1 and 2, Tenor Saxophone 1 and 2, Baritono Saxophone; Horns in Fa (1,2,3,4), Sib Trumpets (1,2,3); Tenor Trombones(1, 2 and 3); Bass Trombone; Tuba (1 and 2); Timpani (1 set), 4 percussion players (Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Martelos, Tom-tons and Tubular bells.
From the first moment, I was asked to use the Braga’s festival of St. John as an influence for this work. Therefore, different motives that, in one way or another, are strongly related to several aspects of this event have been developed in this piece.
In that year, the organization of the celebrations created something new: a rotating statue of St. John’s, at Praça da República, the centre of Braga. The statue with the image of St. John stood in Avenida Central, rotating, after the introduction of a coin. According to what I was told, this rotation of the statue was due to the lack of understanding around which direction St. John should look. Due to this idea of having the Saint looking in different directions, I tried to connect each of the points of the city of Braga with something that would represent it.
Thus, I decided to develop this piece having in view 5 different angles: .1) the Martelos (plastic hammers) of St. John’s eve; 2) Zés Pereiras (groups of Bass drums); 3) the concerts of Philharmonic Bands at Praça da República; 4) Braga’s churches bells and the religious tradition in Braga; 5) the choral tradition in Braga. This led me to the idea of the piece’s form.
In this way, I tried to connect the tradition with the contemporaneity of the Festival, recreating in “braga: à [b]olta do s. joão” the environment lived along with the festivities of S. João de Braga.
compositional process
When I started composing this piece, I tried to bring Braga’s festival of St. John to the stage. I knew that this work would be premiered in the competition, at Auditório Vita (Braga), and this was another challenge. R. Murray Schafer, in “The Musical of the Environment” claims that “the concert hall made concentrated listening possible, just as the art gallery encouraged, focused and selected viewing”[1], and this was one of the aspects to take into account during the composition. Usually, the elements presented in pilgrimages and festivities are not carefully listened to, nor were they created for that purpose. Their purpose is to entertain and give the right mood to that particular event. In this piece, the aim was to create a concert piece: something to be presented, either by amateur or professional marching bands. Thus, the elements that are part of the "peripheral hearing"[2] (quoting, once again, R. Murray Schafer), were brought into an environment where details matter.
At the beginning of the composition process, I talked to Professor Gil Magalhães, president of the jury of the competition for which I wrote the piece, who told me that "the band is far more than the music itself". This reference to companionship was essential to decide that the “martels” of S. João should be played by (almost) all the instrumentalists. I thought that the fact of using this instrument was a way of captivating the bands to embrace the challenge of premiering a piece.
why this name?
The first name I thought of for this piece was “à roda do s. joão”. During the process of composition, the name was changed to “braga: à [b]olta do s. joão”. Although the correct way of writing is “volta”, I chose to use “bolta” due to the fact that many people in Braga change the sound of “v” to “b”.
Form
A - plastic hammer - three attacks, with further development. B - elements of philharmonic band, introducing elements from the “Hino de Braga” and “Hino de S. João de Braga”. A’ - plastic hammer. three attacks. the last one results in the resonance that starts the transition. this last chord starts the ‘background’... C - Braga’s bells. Development using all the elements (from A, B and C). Grande pausa. Coda.
Reflection
During the composition of this piece, “ensaio para um s. joão”, the aim was not to reach a final result in my research, but to take a step in the consciousness on the creative /artistic possibilities of using the Festival of St. John’s traditional elements.
In this piece, as presented above, many traditional elements were deconstructed, recontextualized and worked. There is not only one element (melodies, rhythms, objects, instruments or festivals) that I find crucial to this project, but I consider all these elements as musical objects to work within different compositional approaches. My goal is to work those elements as an influence to the art music that I write as an artist and, maybe also, as a craftsman. Due to this, I believe that “ensaio para um s. joão” can be seen as a summary of my goal for this PhD. Although that is the case in this piece, I do not intend to use all traditional elements (rhythms, melodies, social influences, timbre, etc.) at the same time in my future works. Nevertheless, here I developed material from two categories which I find essential to my work: i) sound/timbre; ii) society as a source for my music. In other words, Portuguese culture as a starting point.
Although I had the intention to recreate the general sound of Braga’s Festival of Saint John, the main aim was to “transform” this Festival into a artwork.
As the main goal during this research is the artistic outcome and the development of my work as a composer, I tried to analyse the quality of the pieces’ final result, writing down what I found to be some positive and negative points:
positive points:
1) promotion of this tradition and its elements.
2) in addition to being noticeable the use of traditional elements, they emerge as a development of the (sonic and visual) material, and not in the first moment of the piece. Some of these elements are easier to perceive - eg. Mahler’s hammer - plastic hammer toys; 2) “Mourisca” melody). This is, for me, a positive point because it is exactly my goal: dissolve traditional elements, recontextualising and reusing them. I do not aim at writing traditional elements’ catalogues, and I do not want to “give them” in a plain and clear way to the audience. The goal is to learn how to integrate them into my music in a conscious way and with an interesting outcome.
3) (re)creation of Saint John eve’s crowd, imitating and replacing some sounds of the Festival into the piece.
4) even using these traditional elements, it is clearly a development of my artistic/musical language.
negative points:
1) Although one of the aims was to recreate Saint John eve’s crowd and general sound, the existing layers can make this piece more difficult than it could be.
2) in a technical approach, there were some bad choices one choosing the dynamics for the pizzicatti and octaves (the pizzicatti on violins I and II should be an octave lower).
Personally, due to the developed research, the presentation of the elements and the technical work (and choices) throughout my compositional process, the knowledge about my identity as a Portuguese artist has surely increased.
There are two sentences in “No Culture, no Europe” (page 29) which represent exactly what I want to do during this research: a) “In art, the issue is not so much whether the alternative view is more beautiful or more interesting, or nearer to the truth, but rather about the always present possibility of a different perspective”; b) “Maybe some people will even suddenly see the world they have taken for granted for so long with completely different eyes".
Indeed, I have the opinion that art can also help us change our point of view about society. With pieces as “ensaio para um s. joão”, I intend to point out “alternate possibilities” about my culture. For that, find important to i) present the Portuguese culture and ii) to develop different ways to use elements of (my) culture in pieces.
A less positive comment that I draw from this work is to not have detailed the whole process throughout the writing of the piece. The last months of research, looking for and remembering what was done in the construction of this work, would have been easier if I had (from the beginning) a concern to keep and organize the compositional process better.
As a young composer, and being at the beginning of my research, I fully realize the need for this reflective part of my work. I may say, however, that it is still difficult for me to expose and explain the compositional process by written words.
Perhaps, by explaining this piece, it is now possible to clarify what I intend to do with my research. As can be seen, it is not part of my plans to write Fado or any other traditional / folk recreation. I want to understand my identity and how can I use it to develop my personal composition aesthetic. Thus, the “identity” I seek as a composer is not only connected to my past (and to the culture of my country, region or city) but especially to my work as an artist. I intend to understand the aesthetics of my music and which direction I and my music should take to the coming years. In order to analyse this work, I intend in the future to ask not only to different musicians (instrumentalists, composers, maestros) but also laypeople to listen/read my score, in order to question my process and musical choices. In this way, I believe that I will be able to learn about my decisions and, also, to explain myself in a clearer way. It is also an aim to show in the coming pieces with influences in the Braga's Festival of St. John a development in this research and in my way of being a researcher.
Rhythms
The rhythms used are also a reference to the Zés-Pereiras.
I present here two pieces that come from the same event with a secular tradition. There is, therefore, a connection between the two pieces in the sound result: the use of “martelos”. On the other hand, there are some differences both in the concept of the piece and in the final result.
While in "ensaio para um s. joão" the influence was mainly the St. John’s eve (23 to 24 June), in "braga: à [b]olta do s. joão" I looked for different influences that extend to the two weeks of the festival.
Another difference was the choice and treatment of music traditionally heard in this event. In "ensaio para um s. joão" I used the melody of "dança do Rei David" in a more abstract way, more difficult to distinguish in the middle of the orchestra. On the other hand, the way the melody of the "hymn of S. João de Braga" was worked in "braga: à [b]olta do s. joão" has a very pragmatic and clear result to those who know this melody. Add to this the fact that in this piece ("braga: à [b]olta do s. joão") I have used two melodies and not only one, as what happened in the first piece.
Reflection
As I began composing this piece, I aimed to capture the lively and festive atmosphere of the S. João party in Braga, but to transport it from the streets to a stage. A major challenge was the premiere of the piece, which was scheduled for a competition at the Auditório Vita in Braga. I had to keep in mind the insights of R. Murray Schafer, who notes in “The Musical of the Environment” that “the concert hall made concentrated listening possible, just as the art gallery encouraged, focused and selected viewing” [5]. Thus, I had to consider the requirements of creating a concert piece that would be performed by both amateur and professional philharmonic bands.
Traditionally, elements presented in pilgrimages and festivities are not intended for close listening, but rather serve to entertain and create the right mood for the event. Therefore, I had to incorporate these elements in a way that would make them suitable for a concert hall where details are paramount, rather than peripheral hearing. My goal was to create a piece that captured the spirit of the St. John’s festival and was also musically compelling and engaging for listeners.
In both pieces, as presented above, many traditional elements were deconstructed, recontextualised and worked. I find not only one element (melodies, rhythms, objects, instruments or festivals) crucial to this project, but I consider all these elements as musical objects to work within different compositional approaches. My goal is to work on those elements as influences to the music that I write as an artist and, maybe, a craftsman. Due to this, I realise that both “ensaio para um s. joão” and “braga: à [b]olta do s. joão” can be seen as a summary of my goal for this PhD.
Here I developed material from two categories which I find essential to my work: i) sound/timbre; ii) society as an influence. Starting from elements of the same event, I tried to write two pieces that are different both in the artistic result and in the (re)use of traditional elements.
During the composition of these pieces, “ensaio para um s. joão” and “braga: à [b]olta do s. joão”, the aim was to give a step in the consciousness of the possibilities of using the Festival of St. John’s traditional elements - these elements will be worked and reused in coming pieces. For the coming years, I plan to write other pieces with the same influences: 1) a piece for one percussion player using only plastic hammer toys (different sizes). 2) a second piece for orchestra, without using the hammers and seeking for a more abstract result.
And now that we are at the end of this day, and after my three presentations, I would like to point out some conclusions I took in the last few years. Firstly, and due to the developed research, the presentation of the elements and the technical work (and choices) throughout my compositional process, the knowledge about my identity as a Portuguese artist has surely increased. In my opinion, art can also help us by changing our point of view about society. With these pieces, I intend to point out “alternate possibilities” about my culture. For that, I find it important to i) present the Portuguese culture and ii) to develop different ways to use elements of (my) culture in pieces.
Secondly, I have found it really interesting and important to promote the traditions we brought to you today and their elements. Portugal has an enormous variety of traditions and for me, it’s really important to share more elements than Fado.
Third, and although I am still developing this project, planning further pieces based on traditional elements, I have been accomplishing my goal of emerging traditional elements in the development of the sonic and visual material. Some of this elements are easier to perceive - eg. Mahler’s hammer - plastic hammer toys; 2) “Dança do Rei David” melody; while others are more difficult to find out. This is, for me, a positive point because it is exactly my goal: dissolve traditional elements, recontextualising and reusing them. I do not aim at writing traditional elements’ catalogs, and I do not want to “give them” in a transparent and clear way to the audience. The goal is to understand how to integrate them in my music in a conscious way and with an interesting outcome, developing my artistic/musical language.
Instrument’s influences and timbre decisions:
.1) martelos
Since the moment that I thought about using the martelos I had the idea to use “Mahler’s hammer” in the piece, as a humorist contrast to the translation to the small plastic hammer.
.2) melody in part B
For the melody in part B, I tried to recreate the sound of Cavaquinho by using pizzicato (in strings instruments)
